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20111226

Hey everyone.. happy holidays..!! Hope you are all enjoying the holidays with family and food.. :)

Remember I told you all about my Holiday Gift Show last week.. firstly I want to thank you all for your kind words of encouragement.. but now the moment i'm sure nobody was really waiting for but I'll tell you anyway.. the results are in.. I've crunched the numbers and after a few weeks of preparations.. and 3 hours of the show minus set up time.. (scroll down to see the rest)

we had a total of 30 something attendees. Yes.. you heard me.. 30! Of that I'm sure that 25 of them we're there just to see their kids preform as the carolers.. The choirs of two school's were there. Of which 15 stopped by to say hello... 10 told we my work was so beautiful. Two took my business card.. 5 asked me for directions.. one asked me the identity of one of the birds in a photograph, one asked me if I had an photographs of Buddha, which I do not. And I think that just about covers it. Fun fun fun.. blah blah blah.. argh argh argh..

20111219

Back from Aruba..which was fabulous and I'll post more about that later.. for now..

This has been a busy holiday season. We started with the gallery exhibition, then flitting off to the warm, beautiful Aruba back home just in time for the Holiday Gift Bazaar at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey on the 19th of December.. which is today.

Now this is, will be my first official fair/bazaar. Thankfully the table and chairs are provided, tents were not needed nor allowed since it is an indoor event. So what do I need? Tablecloth, banner, display racks and product of course. So I started off by making a list and checking it twice (I apologize for the bad pun) but I couldn't help myself. : )

Photographs printed, signed and packed.

Bought a photo album to create a catalog.

Slipped in a little note between mentioning the price and alternately saying 'Ask me about framing?' and 'Ask me about larger prints?'

I also needed a banner.. I didn't want a ready made one.. nor could I afford one since I had bought display racks.. Methods to display photography are limited. Especially when you don't get a display wall and also when everything you are selling is not framed or matted. Most of my inventory is loose prints.

So I sat and cut out triangles.

Now color combinations. Oddly enough my package of markers included just about every color but red. I didn't really want to do Christmas colors anyway..

Now did I want to fully color in the letters or half color them in.. I know what you're thinking.. how very important these decisions were.. life changing. In my defense it has been a good four years since I've picked up a marker.. and have had to think about color combinations and refer to my color wheel.

The result.

As a last moment idea I also decided to offer gift certificates. Figured out how to firstly implement it in my website so that the buyer can easily use it and then tried to quickly but cutely make little gift certificates that people can actually gift.

I picked up one of those plastic storage boxes to put everything in.. Easy to transport and keep track of everything. I have my business card, tape, extra clear bags and pens. Email sign up sheet, custom order forms.. I think I've got it all.. now all I need is some shoppers :)

Will report back with pictures and hopefully great stories. Got any craft show stories of your own.. tips, tricks, DONT'S.. Share.

20111212

I haven't even completely finished editing the photographs of our last vacation and here we are going on our next. Yes, I have been just that busy and yes M and I really really need this. We have a toddler so it won't be the relaxing vacation of a time before children but it'll take us away from the routine of everyday life. It'll take us away from the Jersey cold and off to the warm sandy beaches of Aruba!

Getting back to the being oh so busy.. I don't know how all these other talented mommy bloggers, crafters and artisans do it but I find it hard to jump from creative mode to mommy mode at minutes intervals. Plus M has been working late.. and this is not just a phase. It comes with the job. It usually doesn't start as soon as December.. usually it starts with January and goes on till early May.. but those are the months where I find myself becoming a single mother.. eating meals alone and being starved for adult interaction and conversation. And to think this only the beginning.. five more months to go.

In the meantime I am trying to stay on top of things with my work. The website is fully loaded with all my photographs. And as some of you may already know I just had my first gallery opening yesterday! I will post more of the details when I get back from my trip. But for now a few photographs. My work will be available at the Art House Gallery till the 28th of January 2012 just in case you are in the area. I want to thank you all for your words of appreciation and encouragement. Your words make my day and lift me up when I am feeling down. Thank you.

And once I come back from my vacation I am doing a Holiday Gift Fair at the PaperMill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ on the 19th of December. Now technically I have done an Open House before but that was four Etsian's in a house. This obviously is going to be much larger than that. And requires much more work to get organized. Printing inventory, signing and packaging. Making a banner, sign up sheets just an endless list of things to do. Which I would like to say I am more than halfway done and I would like to be 100% done before I leave so I don't have to be worrying about getting things done once we get back home. I will tell you more about how that turns out.. and if you are fellow Garden Staters please stop by. I'd love to meet you.. you don't have to buy anything I promise. : )

Now getting to the toddler.. we have been taking swim classes which he loves, one of the reason we decided to take a beach/pool vacation. M never gets to see him in action, that is if you don't count his splashing around in the bath tub. So this way I can lounge in the warm sun (yeah right!) and M and D can catch up on their water bonding. He has also started to walk.. a bit of a late bloomer walking at 16 months but the amount of trouble he can get himself into has now tripled. So adorable..devil! He is like a tiny penguin plodding around climbing on and off things all day. Hopefully he too will enjoy the vacation immensely and crossing my fingers will be so tuckered out at the end of the day that he will sleep till the sun comes up.. ah the dream!

20111128

I recently had the pleasure of meeting with the wonderful Samantha Palmeri and Dawn McDonnell of the Art House Gallery in Manahawkin, New Jersey. They had talked to me about showing some of my work in their gallery and in the end the following ten pieces were selected to be featured. I am absolutely ecstatic about this new venture. It will be my very first gallery showing and to be going through the experience with these two fabulous ladies is my pleasure.